Watts made student issues the focus of his campaign, speaking about student rights and city-student relations during candidate forums. He argued that student issues have been neglected by the current council. (Lamar Heystek, considered the best student advocate on the council, did not run for re-election in 2010). He is also concerned about all residents' constitutional rights. Among his campaign promises:

Protect students' tenant rights

Prevent student profiling and harassment by police

Allow all students to vote in city elections by annexing on-campus housing into the city

Repeal city ordinances that violate First Amendment rights to free speech, such as a city code that states, "No personal shall utter in the presence of any two or more persons bawdy, lewd, or obscene words or epithets."

Signage

Comments:

2010-03-18 09:19:05 I'm going to clarify my comment here, since I wrote it quickly and it came off as quite snarky. For that I apologize. Daniel was pretty active advocating for law students from when he first arrived at King Hall. He got ["Cargo Coffee'] (the coffee shack right outside the law school) to do away with their illegalCredit Card Fee. While I personally don't really agree with it (Cargo raised prices across the board to offset it, effectively penalizing cash users), I do admire his willingness to step up and address the issue which bothered a lot of people at King Hall and beyond.

I've got to say, though, that I'll be sad to see some of the crazy (and unenforced) laws on Davis's books disappear. Obviously the Constitution is no laughing matter, but the DPD recognizes how ridiculous the laws are and, as far as I know, hasn't ever attempted to enforce them. They remain, for me, a visible but purely symbolic reminder of Davis's funky, slightly schizophrenic personality, with its mix of ultra-liberal and rather authoritarian influences in a highly educated community. That said, if the laws were enforced, or if there was even the slightest threat of enforcement that might discourage people from exercising their First Amendment rights, I would absolutely support their removal and do my best to defend the rights of those affected. —TomGarberson